An Angus woman bared her soles as she spent a whole day without shoes for charity.
Gemma Medhurst, 28, from Arbroath is a supervisor at Arkive clothing on the Seagate in Dundee and she joined a quarter of a million people worldwide who were doing the stunt organised by one of the lines the store stocks.
“TOMS are one of our bigger brands,” she said. “In November for Movember they came and put on a night for us customising shoes. They support us through everything so I thought we could do something for them for a change.”
The One Day Without Shoes campaign started in 2008 with college students in America wanting to highlight the plight of people in the poorest parts of the world who suffer from a variety of diseases simply because they have no footwear.
Hookworm, a soil-transmitted parasite, affects 740 million people worldwide and can stunt growth and cause decreased cognitive development, anemia and chronic fatigue.
Gemma and area manager Colin Petrie were keen to raise awareness of the disease and the work TOMS do.
“They give a pair of shoes for every pair bought to someone who has never owned a pair before,” Gemma said. “Just so I can have even the vaguest idea of what these people go through, I travelled from Arbroath to work in Dundee and carried on with my normal day barefoot.”
Gemma and area manager Colin Petrie were keen to raise awareness of the disease and did 24 hours shoeless.
“This is not a major accomplishment but I feel if someone listens to my story then awareness can be raised,” Gemma said. She kept an eager eye on the weather forecast before the start of the challenge and had warned the parents at her son’s school that she would be doing the school run barefoot.
“I’ve sent a text out to everybody on my phone, everybody’s 110% behind me,” Gemma said. “We are doing a wee collection.”
She also gave herself a pedicure before the challenge and wrote One Day Without Shoes on the sole of her foot to see how long it lasted throughout the day.
“It’s something so little that we take for granted every day but it means so much to some people,” she added.
“I have to do one day but some people have to do it for the rest of their lives.”